There is immense pressure on Team USA’s men’s hockey team to perform well and contend for a gold medal, but there are plenty of doubters from around the world that question the depth and talent of the team.

After beating Slovakia by six goals on Thursday, it is clear that the Americans were the big winners of the day.

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Forward Paul Stastny led the scoring with two goals, but Ryan Kesler, James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Dustin Brown, John Carlson, David Backes, Max Pacioretty, T.J. Oshie, Phil Kessel and Patrick Kane all continued offensively.

Stastny spoke to the Associated Press via Boston.com, saying, "For the first time on the big ice for most of us, I thought we did pretty well. Our strengths are our puck possession and our speed, and we were" really able to use both of them.

That should answer the doubts about depth and offensive prowess for Team USA.

Add in the fact that goaltender Jonathan Quick looked strong in his first start by stopping 22 of 23 shots, and there is no question that the Americans are going to be a force in the men’s tournament and a legitimate threat to win the gold medal.

While many eyes were focused on how the Russian men’s team would play in their first day of action, the women’s team was in a must-win matchup and performed well enough to earn the ideal semifinal matchup it needed.

Forwards Anna Shukina, AlyonaKhomich and YekaterinaSmolentseva all scored goals for Team Russia, and proved that the roster has superior depth at the forward positions and could conceivably contend against powerhouses like Team USA and Team Canada.

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Russian forward YekaterinaPashkevich told the Associated Press via The Washington Post about playing any team from Group A, “Anybody in the other group is obviously a very strong opponent. That’s the reason they’re in that group.”

The only flaw on Thursday was Russia’s inability to score on the power play.

With over 13:23 of man advantage time without putting the puck in the net, Team Russia must figure out how to capitalize on the power play chances if the squad wants to beat the top contenders in the tournament.